Turbo goes KABOOM!!

junglejoe · Mar 17, 2017

So..driving the truck today..hammering on it a little bit.. let off the throttle a little and the turbo blew up!!
What the hell would cause that?? Boost was only like 2020lbs maybe...
Now the next question is.. I'm replacing it in the morning with another turbo.. but is there anything I need to look for like damage that might have happened?

Strokersace · Mar 17, 2017

Well, judging from the "action" pics you had someone take to log your smikeshow, and your avatar to match.... I'd say that's your answer.

junglejoe · Mar 17, 2017

No.. That little smoke has nothing to do with why the turbo broke.. The question was what causes a turbo to break.just wore out? A bearing issue? Oil flow issue?
I took the tubing off and the impeller is touching the housing and had a couple scrape marks..so something broke and made one helluva pop or like taking a high pressure air line off

IIVonnyII · Mar 17, 2017

you likely shot the exhaust wheel down into your exhaust. check your oil level , you probably lost a bit . turbos wear out, on and off chargers create heat in the bearings eventually heat stress the shafts and snap . it happens

BOSS450 · Mar 18, 2017

2020lbs is wayyyyyy to much for a turbo. I bet drive pressure was insane

Magnum PD · Mar 18, 2017

Don't be jelly.

junglejoe · Mar 18, 2017

See what had happened was... That 2020 lbs of boost, I was chasing a Pirus!! Gotta laughbecause taking a hammer to it is almost out of the question.

Thanks for the info though llvonnyll. As soon as heard it about 10 seconds later after i coasted down the hill and turned off the road I shut it off. Could any metal have got into the motor? I just got this beech out of the shop..AGAIN!!

junglejoe · Mar 18, 2017

How much if any shaft play is there suppose to be? I can move the blade but it does not touch the housing on the other turbo I'm putting on, it came off my brothers truck that he upgraded to a stage 2.so I know it was working except it has a little oil leakage. Small amount from what I can tell. Truck didn't smoke any as far as oil smoke

6.0 Tech · Mar 18, 2017

Sometimes trbos just chit the bed. But if you are trying to pull too much boost out of the stocker, that greatly decreases its life. Crank the truck using the sgnal wire on the passenger fender with the key off, put a cup under tye oil feed line, just to make sure you have flow. Should be about 8 oz in 10 sec or so. Also, if it hasnt been done, upgrade tye drain tube to the bigger style.

As far as shaft play, i believe the spec is like .023 axial up and down and .012 in and out

bismic · Mar 18, 2017

The specs I have documented from Ford (WorkShop Manual 303-04D-1l) are:

The axial play tolerance (in and out) should be no more than .091mm (0.0036in). The radial play tolerance is 0.5mm (0.02in)

Take a look at your oil condition. In addition to overboost and thrust issues, fuel dilution of the oil can be hard on turbo bearings.

Edit - also found this in the Ford Turbo Guide:
Note: For 6.0L Powerstroke diesel engines with engine oil diluted with four or more quarts
of fuel, the turbocharger endplay needs to be checked (.001” - .004” allowable). Also
check radial shaft movement by lifting the shaft up and rotating the shaft to check for
compressor or turbine wheel to housing contact. If any wheel contact is noticed, the
turbocharger must be replaced.

sootie · Mar 18, 2017

Don't bark the charger, it will last longer that way....

Strokersace · Mar 18, 2017

junglejoe said:
No.. That little smoke has nothing to do with why the turbo broke.. The question was what causes a turbo to break.just wore out? A bearing issue? Oil flow issue?
I took the tubing off and the impeller is touching the housing and had a couple scrape marks..so something broke and made one helluva pop or like taking a high pressure air line off

SMH... you completely missed my point.

junglejoe · Mar 18, 2017

Well.. got it off and apparently the shafts broke in two!!

junglejoe · Mar 18, 2017

Strokersace said:
SMH... you completely missed my point.

No.. I gotcha

junglejoe · Mar 18, 2017

Ok... now a situation maybe. Spun the truck over with the jumper wire and there is no oil coming out of the feed line to the turbo!

Highroller54 · Mar 18, 2017

Pull the oil filter and crank it over. See how long it takes to fill the housing. If it's good pull the feed line and check it out.

Highroller54 · Mar 18, 2017

junglejoe said:
No.. I gotcha

Lol.

junglejoe · Mar 19, 2017

Got it running. BUT.. it took forever. for the oil pressure to build before it would even start!
Ever since I put the Bullet Proof remote mount oil cooler on it.. Its been a very funny acting truck. I changed the oil one time and had to take the oil line lose and pour oil into it to prime the system.
This time the turbo blew up and I changed the turbo,I had to take the lines lose and the oil line to the turbo,again it would not get low oil pressure!
I took the oil housing off and it wasn't pumping oil. Then is finally started filling up after I poured oil down the oil line,SLOWLY!
I really think those huge oil lines are causing to much air to get trapped in the oil system. Just my guess.
How hard is it to do a lpop? If its not hard, think ill do that and see if it helps. Only time it it takes forever to build low oil pressure is if the system is disturbed. Is that normal?